UNITED NEWS [Series Title]

Edition of US-produced wartime newsreel, featuring Australian troops in New Guinea, New Zealand and American troops in Italy; a US Army test of anti-aircraft gunnery; the use of sled dogs to rescue airmen crashed in mountainous and snowy terrain; the training of Italian sea cadets; British and American sailors competing in winter sports, and the launching of the new aircraft carrier USS Shangri-La.

Part 1: United News main titles. 'Global war finds United Nations on many fronts'; a hillside in New Guinea with smoke billowing. Australian troops cross a river. Climbing a very steep hillside in 'the worst combat terrain in the world' (from the commentary sheet). Troops carrying picks and shovels climb a hill; clouds can be seen in the valley below. A 3-inch mortar in action. Dead Japanese soldier. A wounded man is carried away on a stretcher. Local Papuans carry supplies. Somewhere in Italy a mule train carrying supplies. New Zealand troops unloading the mules. Troops donning white snow camouflage suits; 'taking a lesson in camouflage from Soviet ski troops' (from commentary sheet) . A sergeant (wearing 'New Zealand' shoulder title; 2nd New Zealand Division?) helps a signaller with his hood. Troops set out on patrol. Struggling up snowy hillside. Aerial view of a harbour with a merchant ship (a tanker?) leaving port. American troops with German prisoners near Anzio. Talking with German prisoners. A wounded German has his foot bandaged; 'prisoners receive the same expert medical care that is given every Allied soldier (from commentary sheet). Surgeons operating. A truckload of US Army nurses passes. Jumping down from their truck. Woman applies lipstick. Women served a meal. Women carrying folded camp beds; 'typical of the spirit with which American girls are following the flag' (commentary sheet). Footage of an air attack against shipping. A plane falls, trailing smoke. A wrecked Heinkel He-111 bomber is examined by an American soldier. American troops on the march up a mountainous road.

Part 2: 'Rocket targets test accuracy of anti-aircraft guns'; United States Army troops load rockets, with oversized tails, onto launching rails. Loading a quadruple .50-inch machine gun. Batteries of rockets are fired (apparently reaching speeds of 450 mph) and the anti-aircraft machine gunners blaze away at them. Loading white-painted rockets for testing at night. Dense tracer fire at night.

Part 3: 'Sled dogs rescue air pilot in saga of frozen north'; panning shot snowscape with mountains in background on the east coast of the United States. A small spade-winged aircraft passes overhead. Aircraft interior (?) with a signaller at work. A sledge team with a radio set. A doctor, carrying medical supplies, bails out from an aircraft to meet the rescue team. Sledge team sets off. Pilot on improvised snow shoes is found collapsed. Blood plasma is delivered intravenously and the casualty put on a sledge. Abseiling down a cliff. Lowering the dogs down a rope; the animals are calm. The sledge containing the casualty is roped down. Slege team on the way.

Part 4: 'Italian cadets learn seamanship on sailing craft'; exterior of R. Collegio Navale in southern Italy. A parade of cadets; hat bands read 'Accademia Navale'. Wide shot showing a sailing ship with three gundecks. Cadets climbing rigging, climbing out along the arms, running out rope etc; 'they scale the rigging like veteran salts' (commentary sheet).

Part 5: 'Winter sports for British and U.S. sailors on leave'. At a north Atlantic base a tug of war contest on snow; 'healthy friendly rivalry between the fighting men of two great Allied nations' (commentary sheet). Slalom skiing. Snowshoe race.

Part 6: 'New "Shangri-la" honors historic raid on Tokyo'; 24 February 1944; US Navy aircraft carrier USS Shangri-La on the launching ways at Norfolk Naval Shipyard in Portsmouth, Virginia. The ship's sponsor, Josephine Doolittle (wife of aviator James Doolittle, leader of the Doolittle Raid), talking with naval officers. In the Oval Office (?) President Roosevelt decorates then-Major Doolittle. The US aircraft carrier USS Hornet at sea. 'Huge' B-25 medium bombers on the flight deck of Hornet. Crew on deck. A 250-lb bomb. B-25s taking off to mount the Doolittle Raid. The Shangri-La is launched; 'go[ing] to join the great fleets of United Nations warships' (commentary sheet). United News end title.

35mm